NORTH BATTLEFORD, Sask. — It was upset central in Draw 2 of the Meridian Canadian Open.
Jacqueline Harrison of Mississauga stunned defending champ Rachel Homan of Ottawa 5-4 in an all-Ontario battle Wednesday morning. Meanwhile, Briane Meilleur stole in an extra end to edge Jennifer Jones 5-4 in a match-up of Winnipeg teams.
Harrison, who qualified for the event by winning the Tour Challenge Tier 2, swiped a pair in the first when Homan crashed on a guard with her last. She never trailed in the game as it was singles going steady through the following five ends. Homan swiped one in seven to knot it up 4-4 but gave up the hammer coming home.
“We’re so proud to even be here,” Team Harrison lead Melissa Foster said. “Winning the Tier 2 was so exciting. Starting off with a big win against the Homan team is huge. It’s huge for momentum. We were going out there hoping to learn more about the ice and the environment, more about the process rather than the win, but coming out with the win is a double win so we’re really happy.”
Team Harrison stays in the A event of the triple knockout preliminary round while Team Homan drops to the B side.
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Meanwhile, Meilleur shook off some early struggles in her team’s first Grand Slam game as Jones, a winner of six titles in the series, stole singles in the first couple ends to lead by two. The teams alternated points in three and four, Meilleur counted another in five and tied it 3-3 with a steal in six. Jones and Meilleur exchanged singles again in seven and eight to set up the extra end.
“It was great,” Meilleur said. “We started off a little slow as expected though. It’s the girls’ first Slam so I knew there would be early jitters but by the end we were curling really well and I’m proud with how the girls played.”
Allison Flaxey of Caledon, Ont., came back to beat Tracy Fleury of Sudbury, Ont., 9-7 in an extra end. Fleury held a 6-1 lead at the break stealing three in the second and counting a trio in the fourth. Flaxey rallied with a four-ender in five and swiped singles in six and seven to pull ahead. Fleury was held to one in eight to force the extra.
Edmonton’s Val Sweeting kicked off 2017 with a bang crushing Anna Sidorova of Russia 10-2. Sweeting scored three in the second, five in the fourth and took two in the sixth to bring out handshakes. Sidorova, who drops to the B event of the triple knockout, was limited to singles in three and five.
Bingyu Wang of China earned a 5-3 win over Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg.
NOTES: The Meridian Canadian Open is the fourth event and third major of the 2016-17 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season. … TV coverage begins Thursday at 11:30 a.m. CT on Sportsnet. … The event features a triple knockout preliminary round where teams must win three games before they lose three in order to qualify for the playoffs. … Winners of the Meridian Canadian Open qualify for the season-ending Humpty’s Champions Cup taking place at the end of April in Calgary. … Meridian Canadian Open action continues Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. CT and runs through to Sunday at the Civic Centre in North Battleford.
